Performance

Pacific Boychoir Academy (PBA) is a GRAMMY Award-winning, independent choir school for boys in grades four through eight, with several after-school choirs for boys in pre-kindergarten through high school. Founded in Oakland, California in 1998 by Artistic Director Kevin Fox, PBA serves over 170 choristers a season, has released eight independent albums, tours internationally each year, and has garnered three GRAMMY Awards with the San Francisco Symphony. The only North American boychoir school outside of the East Coast, PBA offers unique and rigorous choral and academic programs, producing confident, engaged young men and artists. The Los Angeles Times calls PBA’s sound quality “astonishing,” while the New York Times hails PBA’s ability to perform music “far beyond the reach of most children’s choirs.”

PBA has appeared frequently with the San Francisco Symphony (SFS), performing under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, Kurt Masur, Robert Spano, David Robertson, James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, Herbert Blomstedt, Donato Cabrera, Don Davis, and Vance George. Along with SFS, San Francisco Girls Chorus and San Francisco Symphony Chorus, PBA was awarded the GRAMMY for Best Classical Album in February 2004 Mahler’s Third Symphony and GRAMMYs for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Album in January 2010 for recordings of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.

PBA has performed throughout the USA and on six continents, included appearances at such places at Paramount Theatre, Fox Theatre, Lesher Center, Hearst Greek Theater, Davies Symphony Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, War Memorial Opera House, Mondavi Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Zellerbach Hall, Yoshi’s, and Washington National Cathedral; internationally at venues such as Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Grahamstown Arts Festival in South Africa, Basilica San Marco in Venice, Sala Saõ Paulo, Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, Dvorak Hall in Prague, St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, Teatro Independencia in Mendoza, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the International House of Music in Moscow, on Public Radio International, Danish National Radio, at community events such as the Bay Bridge Opening and the Oakland Athletics playoffs, and also several self-produced concerts annually. PBA has also performed on television in simultaneous civic memorial services for Nelson Mandela, both at San Francisco City Hall and at the National Cathedral with Vice President Joe Biden, and has sung on NBC’s America’s Got Talent and The Blacklist, has sung as the voice of the Yahoo yodel, and with comedian Zach Galifianakis. As part of its outreach efforts, PBA also performs for several Bay Area schools each year and serves as San Francisco Opera ARIA teaching artists.

Pacific Boychoir has developed a reputation for presenting challenging works. The choir’s own recordings feature Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, Bach’s Cantata 150, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, two of Bach’s “Lutheran” Masses, Continuum a cappella hits, classical solo favorites, and two recordings of American spirituals, That Promised Land and Show Me the Way.

IMPORTANCE OF MUSIC EDUCATION

Music education has proven crucial in the cognitive, emotional, social, and intellectual development of youngsters. Here are a few helpful articles supporting the case: